Keep of the Castle

The tower today visible, built in 1339-1340, has a square layout, measuring 5.75 meters per side and is about 21 metres high. It rises on the foundations of a pentagonal tower that was unearthed during the excavations of the early 1990s: the area has undergone a painstaking restoration in the years 1994-96. It was in fact the base of the late-Estense tower, built by the Marquis Azzo VII d’Este around 1220. Access was from the first floor on the north side, and one was able to access it through a ladder. This pentagonal tower, with walls that were 2.55 metres wide, and the height of which had to be much higher than that of current tower, was probably the only tower spared in the successive and devastating siege by Ezzelino III da Romano in 1249.